Labelling machines



July 17, 1956 SCOTT 2,754,990

LABELLING MACHINES Filed July 21, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2.

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United States Patent LABELLING MACHINES Thomas Vincent Scott, Shetfield, England, assignor to Morgan Fairest Limited, Sheflield, England Application July 21, 1955, Serial No. 523,554

Claims priority, application Great Britain September 8, 1955 Claims. (Cl. 216-13) This invention relates to labelling machines of the type having means to feed an upright article, such as a bottle, along a predetermined path by means of a propelling member adapted to engage the rear of the article, a labelling bar movable in advance of the bottle and adapted to receive a previously-gummed label, means to bring the labelling bar (with interposed label) into contact with the front of the article, means to press the gummed label to the article, and means to move the labelling bar away from the article. In such a machine, there may be. a number of labelling bars movable in the same circular path as driving projections serving to propel articles round part of that path, with the bars holding by suction labels received from continuously rotatable transfer arms that pass into and out of an intermittently rotatable pickup box with vertically apertured sides, which sides are first gummed and then fed with labels to be removed in gummed condition as the transfer arms pass through the apertures out of the box. There may also be a supplementary labelling bar for each labelling bar of a delivery head rotatable with the driving member, so that two labels may be applied to each article, e. g. both a body label and a neck label to each bottle in a bottle-labelling machine.

The present invention is concerned with an improved form of delivery head for controlling the operation of the labelling bars and providing for the application of both body labels and neck labels to bottles. also be made for adjusting the delivery head in accordance with the size of bottles and with the position on the bottles to which labels (particularly neck labels) are to be applied.

According to the present invention, a lableling machine comprises a bottle-driving member rotatable about a vertical axis, projections spaced round the member adapted to engage the rear of an upright bottle to propel it in a circular path, a support for bottles during the movement in the circular path, a delivery head rotatable with and above the driving member about the same axis, arms pivoted vertically on the driving member, a stationary cam, springs to urge one end of each arm to the cam, vertical labelling bars rigidly depending from the outer ends of the arms and each spaced in advance of a propelling pro jection, a body label suction pad on each arm facing a propelling projection, a neck label suction pad for each labelling bar facing a propelling projection, a lever pivoted to each bar and carrying a horizontal pivot for the neck label pad, a second stationary cam, springs to urge the neck label pad levers to that cam, the cam serving to move the levers from a position with the neck label pad on any arm in line with the body label pad of that arm to a position with the neck label pad protruding beyond the body label pad, a suction valve including a fixed supply member and a rotary member, suction connections from the rotary member to the suction pads, means to transfer gummed labels to the pads, and wiping means past which the bottles are propelled to press to the bottles portions of the labels protruding to either side of the pads.

Provision may 2,754,990 Patented July 17, 1956 ice With labels transferred to the pads of a labelling bar held clear in advance of a bottle propelled by a related driving projection, the first cam operates to close the labelling bar to the bottle to apply the centre of a body label to the body of the bottle and the second cam advances the neck label pad lever to apply the centre of a neck label to the neck of the bottle, the neck label pad rocking about its horizontal pivot to fit the inclination of the neck, after which the movement of the bottle past the wipers presses the protruding ends of both labels to the bottles, the suction is cut off" by the valve, and the cams withdraw the labelling bar for the labelled bottle to be discharged from the circular path.

Each neck label pad may be urged into line with the corresponding body label pad by engaging a shoulder on its labelling bar when its own lever is returned towards that bar by the cam action.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figures 1 and 2 are diagrammatical front elevation and plan respectively of the complete machine;

Figure 3 is a part-sectional elevation of the driving member and the labelling bars;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan to a larger scale of the delivery head taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; I

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the correlation of a transfer bar with a labelling bar; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevation showing the correlation of a labelling bar with a bottle. 7

I In Figures 1 and 2, a pedestal 10 carries a conveyor 11 by which bottles 12 are brought to a worm feed device 13, which delivers them in uniform spacing to gaps between eight driving projections 14 extending outwardly and upwardly from a rotary driving member 15 (Figures 3 and 4) of a delivery head 16. The bottles 12 are slid from the conveyor 11 on to a dead plate 17 surrounded by a guard rail 18 and, when labelled, eventually pass from the delivery head 16 to a rotary discharge table 19. They may be removed by hand from the table 19, or they may be returned to the conveyor 11 by a further conveyor 20 (Figure 2).

The delivery head 16 and the table 19 rotate continuously about their vertical axes, and a transfer member 21 also rotates continuously about a vertical axis. The member 21 has six radiating arms 22 carrying depending transfer bars 23 that pass into the gaps between the driving projections 14. The bars 23 transfer labels from an intermittently rotatable pick-up box 24 to labelling bars 25 depending from the delivery head 16. The labels are applied to the sides of the pick-up box 24 by two label stacks 26 27, the sides of the pick-up box 24 having been coated previously with gum by a gurnrning device 28. The stacks 26, 27 supply body labels 2? and neck labels 30 respectively, the labelling bars 25 each applying a body label and a neck label to a bottle 12 presented to it by a projection 14.

In Figs. 3 and 4, the bottle-driving member 15 carrying the projections 14 is driven through a flanged sleeve 31 by means not shown and carries a sprocket 32 for a chain drive (not shown) to the transfer member 21. A fixed vertical shaft 33 passes through the bore 34 of the sleeve 31, which drives a gear 35 through a further sleeve 36. The gear 35 meshes with two diametrically opposed pinions 37 mounted on the lower ends of spindles 38 in a support bracket 39, which is keyed to the shaft 33. Two pinions 40 identical with the pinions 37 are mounted on the upper ends of the spindles 36 and mesh with a long gear 41 0f equal diameter to the gear 35, which gear 41 is secured to the driving head 16.

The driving head 16 consists of a sleeve 42 having a flange 43 carrying eight stop-pins 44 for limiting the movement of arms 45 carrying the labelling bars 25. The

arms 45 have long vertical pivots 46 in the wall of the sleeve 42 to maintain the labelling arms rigidly in their vertical position. The sleeve 42 is keyed to a shaft 47 and secured by lock-nuts 48, the shaft 47 being mounted in bearings 49 in a housing 50, which is secured to a bracket 51 projecting from a sleeve 52 adjustable vertically on a column 53 by means of a screw 54 rotatable by a hand-wheel 55, the column 53 being carried by a portion of the machine frame 10 outside the operative circular path of the delivery head 16.

Secured to the shaft 47 by a pin 56 is a rotary valve plate 57 having eight ports 58 connected by tubes 59 to the labelling bars 25. The ports 58 are adapted to register successively with two arcuate ports 60, 61 in a fixed valve plate 62 slidably mounted in a bracket 63 carried by the housing 50, the fixed plate 62 being urged downwardly by springs 64 to seal the meeting surfaces of the plates 57, 62. The port 60 is connected by a tube 65 to a vacuum pump (not shown) and the port 61 communicates with the atmosphere.

Each arm 45 is urged towards its stop-pin 44 by a spring 66. A bell-crank lever 67 carries a follower roller 68 on one arm and an adjustable pusher 69 on the other, the pusher engaging a cam block 70 carried by the arm 45 and the roller 68 engaging a cam 71 secured to the bracket 63. The lift of the cam 71 acting through the bell-crank lever 67 urges the arm 45 away from the stoppin 44 against the urge of the spring 66. A spring 72 maintains the contact between the pusher 69 and the cam block 70.

Referring to Figures 3 to 6, each labelling bar 25 consists of a body 73 depending from the outer end of an arm 45, being secured to the arm by a screw 74 and held in correct vertical position by a key 75 (Figure 4). A body label suction pad 76 is carried by a bracket 77 secured to one end of a length of tube 78, the other end of the tube entering a hole 79 (Figure of greater length, bored vertically in the body 73. The top of the hole 79 serves as a suction manifold 80 connected to the port 58 in the rotary valve plate 57 by the tube 59, which manifold 80 communicates with suction openings 81 in the body label pad 76 through the bore 82 of the tube 78 and passages 83 in the bracket 77. The tube 78 is locked in the hole 79 by a screw 84 (Figure 6).

A channel 85 in the body 73 opens out into an aperture 86 across the body 73 and houses one arm 87 of a bell-crank lever 88 (pivoted to the body 73 at 88A) carrying a neck label suction pad 89 on a pivot 90. Suetion openings 91 in the neck label pad 89 communicate with the suction manifold 80 through a flexible tube 92. The other arm 93 of the lever 88 carries a roller 94 urged by a coiled spring 95 towards engagement with a cam ring 96 mounted on brackets 97, 98 (Figure 3).

When the roller 94 is depressed by the cam 96 against the urge of the spring 95 to bring the neck label pad 89 into the aperture 86, a lip 99 contacts a shoulder 100 projecting from the body 73 to bring the surface of the neck label pad 89 into line with the surface of the body label pad 76 ready for receiving neck and body labels carried by pads 101, 102 (Figure 5) respectively on a transfer bar 23 rotating continuously with the transfer member 21 (Fgures 1 and 2). Suction openings 103 in the pads 101, 102 are connected by a passage 104 and a tube 105 to a suction pump (not shown).

As a labelling bar 25 passes through the transfer position a temporary fall 106 (Figure 4) in the cam 71 rocks the lever 67 to allow the spring 66 to advance the labelling bar 25 into momentary contact with the transfer bar 23 and the port 58 enters the arc of the port 60 so that suction is applied to the openings 81, 91 to transfer the labels 29, 30 from the pads 101, 102 to the pads 76, 89. After the fall 106 the cam 71 rises quickly to its full lift so that the labelling bar 25 is moved sharply by the pusher 69 away from the transfer bar 23 to prevent the labels 29, 30 being dragged from the pads 76, 8f.

as the labelling bar 25 and the transfer bar 23 move relatively to each other as they follow their respective circular paths.

The full lift of the cam 71 is maintained through the position at which the related driving projection 14 con tacts a bottle 12 delivered by the worm 13 (Figure 2), to allow the bottle 12 to pass into the gap between the projection 14 and the labelling bar 25 without disturbing the labels 29, 30 carried by the labelling bar (see lower left-hand side of Figure 4).

With the labels 29, 30 thus transferred to the pads 76, 89 of the labelling bar 25 held clear in advance of the bottle 12 propelled by the projection 14, the cam 71, through a fall 107 (Figure 4), operates to close the labelling bar 25 to the bottle 12 to apply the centre of the body label 29 to the body of the bottle and a lift 108 (Figure 6) in the cam 96 allows the spring to advance the lever arm 87 to apply the centre of the neck label 30 to the neck of the bottle, the neck label pad 89 rocking about the pivot 90 to fit the inclination of the neck, after which the bottle 12 is moved between pairs of brushes 109, 110 (Figures 2 and 3) to press the protruding ends of the body and neck labels respectively to the bottle. As the bottle passes between the brushes the suction in the openings 81, 91 is cut off by the port 58 passing out of the arc of the port 60, a lift 111 in the cam 71 rocks the lever 67 to withdraw the labelling bar 25 for the labelled bottle to be carried out of the circular path by the rotary discharge table 19 (Figure 2), and the cam 96 returns to its full depth at 112 to return the neck label pad 89 to the aperture 86 in the labelling bar, ready for the transfer of further labels to be applied to bottles in like manner during the next machine cycle.

To adjust the machine in accordance with the height of the bottles 12 or the respective heights at which the labels 29, 30 are to be applied, the delivery head 16 is raised or lowered, as the case may be, by the screw 54 upon rotation of the hand-wheel 55, the long gear 41 (Figure 3) meshing with the pinions 40 in any position of vertical adjustment of the head. The head 16 is adjusted to bring the neck label pads 89 to the required height, and then the body label pads 76 are adjusted to their corresponding height, by adjusting the amount that the tube 78 of each labelling bar 25 extends below the body 73 and securing the tube 78 by means of the looking screw 84.

Two micro-switches 113, 114 (Figure 2) associated with the feed worm 13 control the label stacks 26, 27 respectively to prevent transfer of labels in the event of a gap in the succession of bottles fed to the machine.

The machine may, of course, apply body labels only, or neck labels only, by supplying the arms with one type of label only and suppressing the suction to the one set of pads; it may likewise apply labels to articles other than bottles. Since the articles merely move in the circular path and do not have to rotate about their own axes, the machine is applicable to the labelling of articles of other than circular cross-section. Moreover, the neck labelling pad and lever may be used for applying labels to non-vertical surfaces of articles other than necked bottles, e. g. conical articles.

What I claim is:

1. A labelling machine comprising a bottle-driving member rotatable about a vertical axis, projections spaced round the member adapted to engage the rear of an upright bottle to propel it in a circular path, a support for bottles during the movement in the circular path, a delivery head rotatable with and above the driving member about the same axis, arms pivoted vertically on the driving member, a stationary cam, springs to urge one end of each arm to the cam, vertical labelling bars rigidly depending from the outer ends of the arms and each spaced in advance of a propelling projection, a body label suction pad on each arm facing a propelling projection,

a neck label suction pad for each labelling bar facing a rah propelling projection, a lever pivoted to each bar and carrying a horizontal pivot for the neck label pad, a second stationary cam, springs to urge the neck label pad levers to that cam, the cam serving to move the levers from a position with the neck label pad on any arm in line with the body label pad of that arm to a position with the neck label pad protruding beyond the body label pad, a suction valve including a fixed supply member and a rotary member, suction connections from the rotary member to the suction pads, means to transfer gummed labels to the pads, and Wiping means past which the bottles are propelled to press to thebottles portions of the labels protruding to either side of the pads.

2. A labelling machine as in claim 1, comprising a shoulder on each labelling bar adapted to be engaged by the neck label pad of that bar when the pad is returned towards the bar, the engagement urging the neck label pad into line with the corresponding body label pad.

3. A labelling machine as in claim 1, wherein each labelling bar contains a channel and the neck label pad is carried on an arm of a bell-crank lever housed in the channel.

4. A labelling machine as in claim 1, wherein the body label pad is carried by a tube, and the labelling bar is bored vertically to receive the tube, with means for adjusting the tube with respect to the bore, the bore and tube forming a suction manifold for the body label pad.

5. A labelling machine comprising a bottle-driving member rotatable about a vertical axis, projections spaced round the member adapted to engage the rear of an upright bottle to propel it in a circular path, a support for bottles during the movement in the circular path, a vertically adjustable delivery head rotatable with and above the driving member about the same axis, arms pivoted vertically on the driving member, a stationary cam,

springs to urge one end of each arm to the cam, vertical labelling bars rigidly depending from the outer ends of the arms and each spaced in advance of a propelling projection, a body label suction pad on each arm facing a propelling projection, a neck label suction pad for each labelling bar facing a propelling projection, a lever pivoted to each bar and carrying a horizontal pivot for the neck label pad, a second stationary cam, springs to urge the neck label pad levers to that cam, the cam serving to move the levers from a position with the neck label pad on any arm in line with the body label pad of that arm to a position with the neck label pad protruding beyond the body label pad, a suction valve including a fixed supply member and a rotary member, suction connections from the rotary member to the suction pads, means to transfer gummed labels to the pads, Wiping means past which the bottles are propelled to press to the bottles portions of the labels protruding to either side of the pads, a gear rotatable concentrically With the driving member, a stationary support, spindles in vertical bearings in the support, pinions on the lower ends of the spindles meshing with the gear, pinions on the upper ends of the spindles, and a long gear secured concentrically to the driving head to mesh with the upper pinions in any position of vertical adjustment of the head, the two gears being of the same diameter and the pinions being of equal diameter to each other, and the stationary cams being carried by the delivery head so as to partake in its vertical adjustment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,635,765 Forrest et al. Apr. 21, 1953 2,652,941 Carter Sept. 22, 1953 2,665,025 Carter Jan. 5, 1954 

